Eleven autograph letters from Joseph Loring to family members in Maine. Loring's letters
recount his first voyage on a whaling ship, the Cowper, which sailed from New Bedford,
Mass., on Sept. 10, 1851, and returned there on May 6, 1855. Six of the letters are from
New Bedford prior to this departure, and they describe the atmosphere of the whaling
port. Four letters are written from the Cowper while it was at sea and at port in
Honolulu and Lahaina. The last letter is written on Loring's return to New Bedford. The
collection, arranged chronologically, also includes a letter from a friend in Maine to
Loring and a letter from Loring's sister.